POLITICAL COLUMN

No referees in politics

CHICAGO — Imagine a large room. Imagine a larger room. Then double it in size. You are now in the offices of OFA.

OFA stands for Obama for America — an homage, perhaps, to the fictional “The West Wing” and its “Bartlet for America” theme — a way of suggesting that some candidates do not run for president, but for the nation.

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Which is all very nice except the 400 or so people in this room sitting at rows of desks that seem to recede into the horizon and below the curvature of the earth are all tapping away at laptops and desktops in pursuit of a single-minded goal: the reelection of Barack Obama as president.

The office is in a tower that overlooks Chicago’s magnificent Millennium Park to the south — David Axelrod’s office overlooks “Cloud Gate,” the 110-ton, polished-to-a-mirror, $23 million, stainless steel “bean” that eventually every tourist in America will pose in front of — and the lakefront to the east.

Not that many of the worker bees get this view. They see desks and desks and more desks, a stuffed animal here, a bouquet (possibly plastic) there, and state flags hanging from the ceiling everywhere, a none-too-subtle reminder that presidential elections are about winning states — states that add up to 270 electoral votes. (About another 400 Obama campaign staffers are out working in those states.)

The average age of the workers at the headquarters is 26, which makes Axelrod, 57, a father figure. Another father figure, he is 51 and president of the United States, visited headquarters recently and was, like most visitors, blown away.

“I think he was overwhelmed by the sea of humanity,” Axelrod said. “He stayed for a good hour. He played Ping-Pong with some people and listened to a kid on the staff describe how he proposed to his girlfriend.”

Headquarter visits by the candidate are disruptive — work comes to a halt — but are also inspirational. “When the guy on the poster comes in and he’s who you hoped he would be, it energizes everybody,” Axelrod said.

“Don’t win this for me,” Obama told the staff. “Win this for you.”

There was applause and more than one teary eye. And then everybody got back to work.

The room, gigantic as it is, represents only half the Obama floor space in the tower and houses only the communications, press, research and policy staffs.

Readers' Comments (38)

Some years ago I had an epiphany - nothing particularly brilliant, more a confirmation of what originally started as a gut recognition: we have rules for everything, except politics; there are no rules that apply to politics. This article served to illustrate there is some amount of organization behind the chaos.

This article has some nice, chatty points about the Obama campaign, but it doesn't do justice to the overall situation of the nation and the legitimacy of the president's claim to a second term of office. With Obama we have had: four consecutive years of $1 trillion+ fiscal deficits; a 60% increase in the federal debt from $10 trillion to $16 trillion during his term; a nearly unmatched record of job killing federal government regulatory overreach; and continuous open unemployment rates of over 8% every day of his administration. The long-term unfunded liabilities of the federal government (mainly Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Obamacare, and federal pensions) now exceed $200 trillion. Because the nation is relatively indebted, we face a low-growth economic outlook. With a low-growth outlook, everything else, like employment, tends to be low. The nation is in trouble, and President Obama's economic management record has been catastrophic. So what is President Obama going to do in 2013-2017? Continue to hobble the federal government and the economy with new programs like Obamacare? What are his plans? Where are they? Why won't he talk about them? Why does he deserve to be made president again?

This article has some nice, chatty points about the Obama campaign, but it doesn't do justice to the overall situation of the nation and the legitimacy of the president's claim to a second term of office.

You talk abotu justice, then unleash a volley of Faux news un-true talking points with no substance. Go ahead and vote for the 1%, don't worry enough folks with sense will save you from your own ignorance.

What really goes on is the Obama campaign issues orders to the news media telling them what to talk about and what issues to stay away from, and they report it as news. The partisan press is nothing more than another unpaid propaganda machine for the Obama campaign and the radical left.

A few years ago, the Journalista network was exposed showing the coordination between left-wing politicians, leftists in academia, and the leftists in the news media. Anyone who doesn't understand that the network was just reconstituted with a different name and a more tightly controlled access list, just isn't living in the real world.

The current mainstream media is no more of a "news" network than Pravda was in the old Soviet Union.

Thanks to Roger for todays Obama Blessing. In spite of shrinking polls, corruption, high unemployment, huge loads of debt being added we get an article trying to make Obama smell good. Roger is truly Obama's Goebbels!

With the help of Obama's TSA, a RYAN gathering was felt up, down and sideways like we were in pre WW2 Germany. From what Simon Wrote this must have originated in the Chicago Palace run by Minister Axelrod. TSA Rifles Through Bags, Conducts Pat Downs At Paul Ryan Event

Government agents moving out of airports and into the streets

Steve Watson Infowars.com Aug 22, 2012

For some time we have been warning that the TSA is systematically moving beyond the nation’s airports and conducting operations on the streets of America.

The latest example of this kind of activity occurred at an event organized by Mitt Romney’s GOP running mate Paul Ryan this past weekend in The Villages, Florida.

The Shark Tank blog reports that TSA officers showed up alongside Secret Service and the local Sumter County Sheriff’s Office, and proceeded to do what they do like no one else does.

“A big WTF is in order here.” the blog notes, adding “We heard that the TSA was going to expand its ummm, ‘reach,’ but to assist in political campaigns is quite the jump in broadening their ‘transportation security horizons.’”

“I counted no less than (6) TSA agents alongside the usual uniformed Secret Service detail-not to be confused with the ‘Men In Black’ looking agents.” blogger Javier Manjarres notes, with a picture of the agents in action (below). C'mon Roger return to real investigative journalism instead of blatant promotion and propaganda.

LaBolt also said he directs tries to get ahead of the media and their reporting. When What reporters and producers call him to ask reveals what they should be are working on and it allows the campaign to shape the story or ready a response. And LaBolt makes his own calls every day. “What’s up?” he asks reporters and producers. “What are you doing for us pursuing?”

There, I fixed it for you.

Roger it is just sad how in love with Obama you are. Hopefuly you will soon bear his child and move on to other more important things and give up "writing" you little pieces.

If your message isn't resonating with the masses then you have only yourselves to blame. Not everybody sees things your way.

Are you confusing news i.e. facts with opinion which we all know is like a certain part of everyone’s anatomy?

The resonating of the “news” with the masses is a function of tugging at the heart strings of some sad news otherwise it’s just clean simple factual information.

Having the masses resonate with your opinion is another matter and quite frankly a pointless activity unless you are trying to gain control. The masses resonated with Hitter, Stalin, Hirohito, Mussolini, Khomeini, Idi Amin, Castro, Guevara, and a whole load of other wonderful people that had “opinions” that resonated with the masses.

Wanted to comment on Ryan and Mitt and make a plea to fellow women voters!!

There is tape of Paul Ryan on the floor of the House going back to the year 2000 arguing against ANY exceptions for abortion - even for the health or life of the mother.

This is extremely scary stuff for women. Whether we are of child-bearing age ourselves or have daughters or daughters-in-law who can become pregnant, these words from Ryan about "forcible rape" and no exceptions even for the mother's health should give us all pause.

This man could very easily be President Ryan if he is only a heartbeat away. And Mitt is so very wishy-washy, namby-pamby, and flipsy and flopsy that who knows WHAT stance he would ultimately take in the White House? With the likes of Rush and Hannity and Coulter breathing down his neck - along with Ryan at his side - Mitt could - and most likely would cave to pressure from the far-right.

Wake up women voters!! Don't let these two men anywhere near the White House!!

Roger Simon you are either a fool, or an uneducated fool, or you are just a typical liberal to whom anything you can do to support your liberal ideals is just fine.

The single purpose for the guarantee of a “free press” in our Constitution is to provide the People with a source of unbiased factual information. Information with which they might participate in the political process with the knowledge necessary to make the decisions necessary to their freedom.

Please do not claim to be a journalist for a Journalist would adhere to the Journalistic Code of Ethics:

Preamble

Members of the Society of Professional Journalists believe that public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty. Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility. Members of the Society share a dedication to ethical behavior and adopt this code to declare the Society's principles and standards of practice.

Seek Truth and

Report It

Journalists should be honest, fair and courageous in gathering, reporting and interpreting information.

Journalists should:

— Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible.

— Diligently seek out subjects of news stories to give them the opportunity to respond to allegations of wrongdoing.

— Identify sources whenever feasible. The public is entitled to as much information as possible on sources' reliability.

— Make certain that headlines, news teases and promotional material, photos, video, audio, graphics, sound bites and quotations do not misrepresent. They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context……..

I find you to be in violation of the ethics code and do herby fine you $50,000,000 to be paid directly to the US Treasury for payment against the National Debt. Further your membership in the society of Professional Journalists is revoked until such time as you complete 500 hours of ethics training and apply for reinstatement.